Ferrari will bring further upgrades mostly to the rear-end of their car in F1 Portuguese GP as they look to use two tokens to improve it for 2021 season.
Interestingly, Ferrari has identified that the rear end of the car will bring more performance going forward and for that reason, they have devoted their two tokens to improve it further for 2021 season as they try to get out of their recent slump.
While the chassis work goes on, the engine side is being pushed well too, to not only help them but also customer teams, Haas and Alfa Romeo Racing. Having brought several parts in the last few F1 races, Ferrari will bring further stuff for Portuguese GP weekend.
It will all be to improve the rear end of their car. “We already introduced a few small modifications to the car’s aero package in Sochi and added others at the Nurburgring,” said Enrico Cardile, Head of Performance Development at Ferrari.
“In Portimao we will have a further update, mainly to the diffuser, completing the programme set out over the past few months. With the provison that each team has its own design philosophy, our belief is that the rear end offers the biggest margin for improvement.
“I say that not just because it’s the area of the car where pretty significant changes have been introduced in the technical regulations, but also we believe that because of the way our car is laid out, we could really make significant progress. That’s why we’ve decided to spend our two tokens allowed in the rules, in this very area.
“Because next year, it will not be permitted to modify all the basic components of the car, but only some and the FIA sets a token allocation for each of them, with all teams having two tokens available,” summed up Cardile, as he stated that the core work for Ferrari is to understand if the upgrades is pushing them on the right path.
With the little data they have now, they think it is going in the right direction. “The most important thing is to get confirmation that our development is on the right track,” said Cardile. “Indications from the past few Grands Prix are positive and we hope the same will apply this weekend.
“We have to consider that, more than ever this year, development is aimed at the following season. All the same, we still expect to see a performance improvement with the SF1000: it would be very useful to at least find ourselves heading the group of cars and drivers currently fighting within just a few tenths for places four and lower.
“Only a couple of times this year have we been able to fight for a place in the sun on the second or third row and our aim between now and December is to be consistently fighting for those places. But then, precisely because this part of the grid is so close, it takes hardly anything to find yourself fourth or twelfth, but that’s all part of the game.”
Considering that 2021 will see less of windtunnel run for teams finishing higher up and more time for those at the back end, it seems like Ferrari will be in the latter half. It will give them more time certainly but they are not giving up on 2020 despite that.
“I’m not joking when I say our aim is to make up ground this year,” said Cardile. “When we look at the standings, seeing ourselves down in sixth place hurts and we are well aware that it is not a position worthy of Ferrari. We absolutely want to improve, for us and for our fans who still support us with passion, even at difficult times like the ones we are going through now.”
Here’s Helmut Marko on Sebastian Vettel
Here’s Guenther Steiner on Ferrari slump and 2021 work
Here’s Guenther Steiner on Haas 2021 line-up
Here’s Charles Leclerc talking about progress from Ferrari
